HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, take 3

Today is my son’s birthday, and one of his birthday requests was another trip to see HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon–and I have to say, I liked it better this time around!

If you’re interested in reading what I thought after the second time through, go here. I would like to amend my previous comment about natural lighting–there’s more than I thought. But I don’t recall a time when it’s full-on sunlight. It’s all evening, or early morning, or some time when the light is softer. I don’t recall a “harsh light of day” scene. I don’t think this is the film for metaphorical harsh light. I think those will be the next two films.

This time around, I felt . . . softer . . . toward the whole thing. I was more forgiving of the Astronomy tower scene. I was more forgiving of Dumbledore as a whole, actually. Book people have to tolerate film adaptations of their beloved stories, and I have come to the conclusion that this is a definitely tolerable version of my beloved HALF-BLOOD PRINCE.

Still the best visual:

I have also decided that Luna and Bellatrix (masterfully represented by Evanna Lynch and Helena Bonham-Carter, respectively) are wonderful representations of JKR’s characters. Spot-on, in my estimation.

I like that about a film (or a book). You can go back to it time and again and see/feel/think something new. We’ll see what my students say in a week. I’d venture to say we’ll open HP class with a discussion of Movie 6.